Young People of Budesti

As the mayor introduced me, there was absolute silence. I gazed out into the hall at these hundreds of young people; all of them, virtually all of them, were clean cut, presentable, smiling, and obviously keenly interested in participating. I had nothing tangible to bring them. But the power of hope was an unbelievably powerful driving force.

They spoke with me, sharing what they hoped for for their futures. As I listened though, I noticed that not one of the ideas mentioned to me was an individual hope, moreso, it was a hope or dream for the entire village.

These young people asked for training and education: The girls wanted to learn hairdressing skills, sewing skills, art, and medical skills. The boys wanted to learn electronics, computers, nursing care, social services, to drive cars, install telegraph equipment, use heavy equipment, drive buses, etc. Many of these requests can easily be fulfilled by people from the west with their discarded and used equipment.

The Local Priest

This is Father Vladimir. He is the Orthodox priest for the village. Whilst he and I get along well, he is clearly nervous about the concepts of ecumenism.

Fr. Vladimir does not visit anyone in his parish; they are required to come to him at the Basilica. Fr Vladimir has never once in his life helped anyone in the village financially; the villagers must give money to the church. The church has never, ever, contributed to the village; the village MUST support the church! And the list goes on.

However, despite this, the Orthodox Church holds great power over the community and it is essential to work "with" the local priest and nurture him to ensure that he constantly feels as if he is in control of a situation. Several years ago there were some clashes over a visiting Baptist missionary, who, unfortunately, created a bit of a stir.

Subsequently, the missionary was invited to leave. It's my feeling that had the missionary invested in building relationships first, and had demonstrated respect and understanding towards the mother church, many things could have been accomplished to help the community.

But sadly, many of these lessons are gained from years of experience. I found Fr Vladimir helpful and open to working with me in any way he could to help the community.